TIP Heroes

AMOD K KANTH

India , Class of 2005

After witnessing the after-effects of a 1988 fire, Amod Kanth created the NGO Prayas, an organization for disenfranchised and distressed children in India.

His career began as a teacher. Within several years, however, Mr. Kanth had joined the Indian Police Service. By 1988, he had achieved the high rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police in New Delhi. There was a large slum in Delhi, called Jahangirpuri, where tens of thousands of street children lived. A fire ravaged the area, and destroyed all of the makeshift homes and ragged shelters the children had built for themselves. Many of the children were also injured. Inspector General Kanth visited the area, as the Deputy Police Commissioner, along with a high-ranking official, and was moved by what he saw. He shortly opened two homes for the children, and Prayas was born. The organization began by providing educational services to some 25 or so street children.

The organization continues to provide services and help to street children, neglected children, child trafficking victims, and any others who have been mistreated and need help. Inspector General Kanth was honored in 2005 as a "TIP Report Hero Acting to End Modern Slavery" in recognition of his efforts to combat human trafficking. At that time, he had built an incredible network of shelters and service points, started a national hotline in partnership with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and educational centers. The organization currently provides services to some 50,000 children, through its 236 centers throughout India. Mr. Kanth also sat as the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights.

India, in the 2014 TIP Report, was listed as a Tier 2 country. It is source, destination, and transit country for both labor and sex trafficking, many of whom are children. While the government has started to attempt to comply with the minimum standards to combat trafficking, the country suffers from heavily ingrained practices, uneven enforcement, and some corruption.